COVD-19: Iraq reported first case of coronavirus, the patient contracted the virus after a trip to Iran

Iraq had reported its first coronavirus case in the city of Baghdad whereas 22 dead of the virus in Iran. A man contracted the virus after a trip to Iran. The health ministry said in a statement. He was in "good health" in a Baghdad hospital, it added.

Iraq on Wednesday banned public gatherings and barred entry by travelers from Kuwait and Bahrain because of the spread of the new coronavirus, prohibiting travel to or from a total of nine countries. The health ministry said in a statement. He was in "good health" in a Baghdad hospital.

Iraq is concerned about the spread of the coronavirus from neighboring Iran, one of the worst-hit countries outside China where the virus originated late last year. Iraq has cultural and religious ties with Iran and annually receives millions of Iranian pilgrims.

An Iraqi family of four who returned from Iran tested positive for the coronavirus in Kirkuk province on Tuesday. They were the first Iraqis known to have caught the disease, a day after an Iranian student in Najaf became Iraq's first confirmed case. He was later transferred to Iran.